Influenza on Vacation
by Sage Clover
Summary: Sam and Gabriel go on vacation to a cabin in the woods and Sam gets sick, then tries to hide it. He doesn't want to ruin this opportunity to just chill with his archangelic boyfriend. But his body has other plans.


This sort of takes place in a canon divergent AU. Jack's birth opened a rift to the Empty instead of to Apocalypse World and Mary's wandering ended up waking the angels up and they came home before Castiel's canonic death (So Castiel never went to the Empty). This was written for Gabriel Bingo, squares Cabin in the Woods, and Flu Seasons Sabriel.

There's mentions of the possibility of throwing up and phlegm and some cussing.

* * *

Sam hated getting sick. As a child, he had rarely gotten sick, and in retrospect he wondered if maybe the demon blood had something to do with that after all. He hated the way his nose would run, and the aches and pains. The bone deep aches of a cold were much less severe than the injuries received while hunting, but they were almost more annoying because there was no real way to know what was causing them.

When harsh coughing woke him from sound sleep on the second day of his and Gabriel's vacation to a cabin in the woods, he just _knew _he couldn't let whatever it was keep them from enjoying their break.

Fortunately for him, Gabriel had already left the bed and it sounded like he was loudly preparing breakfast in the kitchen. Which meant that he didn't hear the harsh coughing that tore itself from Sam's throat. Sam was thankful for that, because the last thing he wanted was for Gabriel to think it was necessary to "nurse him back to health" or worse, use his grace for it.

So much had happened since he and Gabriel had first met, but there had never been any time to _really _get to know him before Lucifer had stabbed him dead. And sure, Sam had pined, a lot, but almost a decade has past before Jack's birth had opened a hole to what was apparently known as the Empty, the place where the angels and demons went when they died. And hope had sparked, because maybe that meant it would be possible for Gabriel to come back.

Except of course, the fact that so much had happened since then. So much had happened _to Sam. _And why would an archangel even like him back? The angels had spent a lot of time telling him how worthless, how _evil _he was, and wasn't an archangel supposed to be the best of them?

And yet, somehow, Mary's adventure inside the Empty had ended with many angels awakening and returning. The lights were no longer threatening to go out, and Raphael was in charge of Heaven (which was not as bad a thing as it might have sounded like, Sam was told, because the Healer's time in the Empty had been spent in deep ponderance and they had come to realize their lapse in judgement and apparently Gabriel had needed to convince them to return at all, so now they were doing a lot more healing and a lot less killing and Sam had no right to judge).

At some point after that, not long at all, Gabriel had asked if he wanted to go to Paris. And it wasn't like he could say no, not when the first few points of the itinerary had been museums he'd never imagined he'd ever get to go to. And sure, it _had _turned out they were there for reasons besides just admiring the beautiful art, but it had also turned out to be a really nice first date. Before they were almost murdered. But what was a little romance without a little adventure?

There had been more dates, and sex, after that, but it was Fall now, and this was their first _real _vacation. No hunting, no babysitting Jack, no Dean or Cas or anything else. Just the two of them and this wonderful alone time _that they had earned _.

But with all the things he had endured in the last decade, he could barely stomach flying. But if Gabriel were to try to use grace to bring him back to full health? There was no way it wouldn't bring back so many bad memories despite the fact that he really did fully trust Gabriel.

"Sweetheart, are you ready to eat breakfast?"

Sam had been lying on his side, so he rolled over and sat up. Which was a lot harder than it should have been and _oh _was he dizzy. And literally everything hurt. Could he turn down breakfast without looking suspicious? He didn't feel like throwing up, not when everything already hurt. But going without food wouldn't help him feel better either.

"I'm not feeling very hungry," he said, praying he wasn't hoarse from the coughing. "But maybe we could eat a light breakfast?" In bed? He added silently, but didn't vocalize because if anything, Gabriel _would_find that odd. "Banana slices on toast?" Was that weird request? Toast was light breakfast fare, and Gabriel knew he was fond of fresh fruit, bananas were just good for settling stomachs too.

"And syrup!"

He was going to puke.

"I think we should have our breakfast in bed, what do you think, Samshine?"

Thank god. However- "If you get syrup in my bed, I will stab you."

"Then maybe I'll just get the syrup all over you."

There would be puking. And stabbing. Which would likely lead to more throwing up.

"Sam, are you okay?"

Fuck. Had all the thought of throwing up made him look green? He couldn't tell, and there was no mirror in the room. "I'm good." He wasn't, he really wasn't, and now his head was starting to ache behind his eyes and he was so _tired. _He yawned. "Just tired." Naps weren't _that _suspicious. Right? "Can we take a nap after breakfast?" They were on vacation. They _deserved _a good nap.

Gabriel blinked, and there seemed to be a glint of worry behind his eyes, which concerned Sam, but there was nothing more he could do to dissuade it right now without making matters worse. But then the worry seemed to be gone behind a mask of collection. "That sounds like a good idea. I'll go finish breakfast."

As soon as the door closed behind Gabriel, Sam slammed his head back down into the pillow. It hurt. A lot. It hurt enough to knock the wind out of his chest and make it hard to breathe for a second.

He coughed, and coughed, and grabbed the second pillow to cover his cough with because he couldn't risk having Gabriel hear it. He knew archangels had really good hearing, but how good?

Maybe his head hurt so much because it was too bright. Maybe he could just close his eyes until Gabriel came back and then it would be gone.

"Sam? Sam, Sweetheart, are you _sure _you're feeling okay?"

It felt like only moments later, but Gabriel was poking him awake and he couldn't contain a startled grumble because it _hurt _. Gabriel instantly stopped touching him.

"Samalam, you're worrying me." The bed shifted as the archangel sat gently next to Sam. They weren't touching. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Sam shifted onto his side so he was facing Gabriel, but he didn't open his eyes. He wasn't going to tell Gabriel that he felt _sick _but maybe something else. Something that wouldn't ruin their quiet vacation. Ah. The headache! Gabriel would know that he had gotten them frequency once, right? So that would be believable.

"Just a headache." Did he sound hoarser than earlier? He couldn't tell. "Do you have any painkiller?" That would help with the aches too, and then he wouldn't have to admit to ever having those.

A hand touched his forehead. It was cold and nice. "You're running a fever. Are you sure it's just a headache?"

"Must be a migraine. May I please have that painkiller?"

"Yeah. Here." Sam blearily cracked an eye lid open just enough that he could see where Gabe was holding the painkillers. He missed the first time he tried to grab them, but not the second time. Gabriel was also holding a glass of water but he was too worried about spilling it all over himself to try to grab it. So he shoved the pills in his mouth and dry swallowed them. Which also hurt because he had a sore throat. When had that happened? He had no fucking idea.

"Do you think you can stomach some of this toast and banana? I didn't butter the toast because I wasn't sure if you'd want it or not. I could butter it if you'd like?"

Sam smiled. Maybe the migraine thing was a good excuse. Some migraines came with nausea, which he was definitely feeling. "Without butter sounds good. I'll definitely eat a little bit. Maybe some toast first?"

"Would you like to sit up a little?" Gabriel asked.

Sam shifted, trying to move his head as little as possible, and Gabriel helped by picking up the second pillow.

"Sam, why is this pillow all wet?"

Oh god no. That was the pillow he'd coughed all over. Which meant that it was wet with phlegm. He fought the urge to gag.

"You know what, we'll just use a different pillow." There was a snap, which Sam took to mean that Gabriel had summoned at least one fresh pillow. The new pillow was placed behind his head and it was both soft and cool, which felt nice against his head.

Gabriel held the plate of toast and banana slices that Sam assumed was his. "Is it okay if I feed you a few pieces of toast?"

Sam wanted to resist, to insist that he was quite capable of feeding himself. But if Gabe was offering, then maybe he should just accept the offered help. Despite it being Dean and him and Cas for so long, it often felt like he had to do everything for himself to some extent because for so long there had been so little he could ask from Dean without it leading back to more fighting and he was just so ready to be done with all the fighting.

Maybe that's why he was trying so hard to just have this vacation, and for it to be a nice one. He and Gabe didn't really fight, at least not in the endless way and he and Dean did. He wasn't even sure if he remembered what he and Dean were even really fighting about anymore.

He didn't end up answering Gabriel, but Gabriel brought at piece of broken toast to his mouth and he ate it. It was nothing special, just toasted bread. But when it didn't seem to upset his stomach too much, Gabriel fed him a few more pieces slowly.

After about the fourth or fifth piece of toast, Sam shook his head because he couldn't stomach any more. He yawned. "I know I fell asleep while you were making breakfast, but can we take that nap for real now? You promised."

"Sam, do you know what time it is?"

Sam shook his head. There were no clocks in the bedroom of the cabin. There was just the bed, the nightstand, and a dresser. There was a window, but the curtain was drawn so there was only enough light to see, but not well. He might have been able to read by it, if his head wasn't killing him. But other than that, there was no way to tell exactly what time it was.

"It's noon, Sam. I asked if you wanted to eat breakfast around 8 and when I came back you were sound asleep."

He bit his lip. "I'm sorry, Gabe," he whispered. He'd been so _excited _to go on this trip, and now he'd failed at hiding the fact he was under the weather and couldn't get to enjoy the vacation to its fullest extent.

"It's not your fault." Gabriel touched his arm, and it was light enough that it didn't hurt his overly sensitive nerves. "I know that you haven't wanted me to use any grace on you, at all, since I got back from the Empty, but would you be willing to let me help you?"

"Please, no." Sam leaned away, pressing his head into the pillow. His boyfriend was being nice enough to ask if he could help, and all he could think about was how much grace had hurt him in the past. Not Gabriel's, never Gabriel's. _But everyone else _.

Sam sobbed. He wasn't _supposed _to get sick. Of all the things that having the "abominable" blood, at least he had been able to mostly count on that _one _good thing. "I'm sorry," he whimpered, coughing.

Gabriel hugged him. "No apologies, Sam. It's not your fault. And if you think this is going to ruin our vacation, you're _wrong _. We'll just take an extra long one if we have to. We can stay for as long as we want to. It's okay."

If Gabriel said it was okay then it had to be okay, or at least, that was what Sam was ready to believe.


End file.
